What about Mahogany Decking?

While you’re researching hardwood decking and porches you may hear people talk about “Mahogany” decking. On a older homes it may actually be genuine mahogany but these days that is very hard to come by in the quantity needed for home decking. So in most cases they are talking about Camabara (Erisma uncinatum) or Marenti (Philippine Mahogany). So lets compare the specs of these woods compared to Ipe and Garapa just to see how they match up. Then we will go through the positives and negatives of each.

Wood

Garapa

Ipe

Cambara

Meranti

Janka hardness

1,631

3,680

860

800

Average weight

54 lbs/ft3

69 lbs/ft3

40 lbs/ft3

42 lbs/ft3

Bending strength

12,900 lbf/in2

25,660 lbf/in2

12,687 lbf/in2

12,710 lbf/in2

stiffness

2,257,000 lbf/in2

3,200,000 lbf/in2

1,640,000 lbf/in2

1,743,000 lbf/in2

Crushing Strength

9,030 lbf/in2

13,600 lbf/in2

7,211 lbf/in2

7,070 lbf/in2

Cost $-$$$$$

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You can see from the specs that both the Meranti and Cambara are fairly soft woods when compared with the Garapa and Ipe so they are not going to hold up as well. They are also not as stiff or heavy as either Garapa or Ipe. Since hardness and crush resistance are a great predictor of how long a deck will last under the stresses of high traffic and usage you can see how Garapa and Ipe are both better options.

We like to recommend that if you are looking for a Mahogany color then you should look at staining Garapa or possibly Massaranduba as a better option with similar color then what we find are these “Mahogany” options. We only offer decking options that will last you 25+ years on your home and we don’t think think that these “Mahogany” options will do nearly that.

If you have any questions about Different Types of Mahogany decking or porches feel free to ask below in the comments or contact us.